BUSINESS BRIEF

SO FAR only Belgium and Greece have put forward candidates to replace Christian Noyer as vice-president of the European Central Bank, Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders said this week. Belgium’s candidate is Paul de Grauwe, professor at the University of Leuven. Greece wants its central bank governor Lucas Papademos to get the job.

European Voice

3/6/02, 5:00 PM CET

Updated 4/12/14, 7:41 AM CET

EU FINANCE ministers agreed to free the electricity and gas markets for businesses but France blocked the effort to liberalise them for household users. Spain’s Rodrigo Rato insisted the compromise with France, which opposes swift market-opening for consumers, was still significant.

MARIO Monti said he was examining claims that Portugal offered German tyre firm Continental unfair tax breaks to move output from its Swedish plant to Portugal. The company laid off 774 workers in Gislaved last year, but increased production at its Portuguese factory.

THE Commission has opened an investigation into Greek government aid to troubled airline Olympic Airways. The EU executive is examining possible misuse of aid authorised in 1994 and 1998, as well as the legality of a 19.5 million euro government loan granted last month.